New Generation Gap Questionnaire
I always love new writers and new writings. But do those new writers read works by older ones? I found an interesting topic on the Elizabeth Bear blog, which John Klima expanded on the Tor Books web site. Also I hear a lot of complaints about lack of reading habits in the younger generation, and see the Worldcon attendants getting older and older, which inspires a lot of ideas on encouraging young readers to attend, but they never succeed. Do young writers feel alienated to the traditional SF/F genre? Or don't they care at all? When I first attended the Worldcon in 1984, even those young angry turks called cyberpunks read a new Heinlein novel and discussed it. Even established writers like Ben Bova and Fred Pohl read Bruce Sterling and William Gibson. Even then, a certain gap between generations was felt and it was a famous legend that Thomas M. Disch hated new writers like George R. R. Martin and John Varley in the 70’s, criticizing them as award seekers, naming them Labor Day Group. But in these days of decline of traditional book publishing, should we feel the gap among us reading people?
On the other hand, I always feel time is changing, to quote a song I really love, how it differs from a rock. New writers are trying something new and it's alright for them to take some distance from the established writers and their writing styles, I guess.
So I asked a bunch of writers and editors about this generation thing, and featured the answers in the "Sprawl Fiction" June 2009 issue of Hayakawa's SF Magazine. The answers are very much interesting and enlightening. I'd like to share their wisdom and heartfelt feelings on this issue with you. Thanks a lot to y'all who answered to my questionnaire and gave us permission to post them here.
If you want to leave a comment on this Questionnaire, please post a comment to our blog.
Questionnaire
Q-1.
Do you think a certain generation gap really exists, or, if not exactly a gap, do you feel some kind of distance between veterans who started their careers before 1960s and the younger generation Y in our genre, at least?
Q-2.
Do you think the general atmosphere for the genre is less passionate now than, say, thirty years ago? I know there are fewer voters for the Hugo, and even those voters usually vote for their favorite works now, rather than the ones we can boast about as the representative masterpieces of the genre that particular year, as cornerstones of SF history.
Q-3.
Has fandom changed? Or is it writers who have changed? What are the things that concern them most? They used to be the moon, rockets, a-bombs, wars, urbanization, etc.
Q-4.
What do you think about the current state of SF? How do you like recent works by the newer generation of writers? Who is your favorite among them, or writers to watch? Can you recommend them to your personal friends who have never read our genre?
Q-5.
Which of your works would you like to be read by Japanese readers?
Q-6.
What is your current work? Your next project?
